Once Upon and Once Again
by Elien101
Summary: PLEASE DO NOT SCROLL DOWN FURTHER! Ladies and gentlemen, while I have your attention, will you please direct your eyes to what could be an intriguing new post-Tokyo story that may interest you. Still a work in progress, but guaranteed to leave ya hanging from beginning to end: New enemies, new alliances, ex's and oh-so-much more... (Get that last part? X's and O's, lol!)
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, sooo… This is different from my usual fan-fiction, but hear me out alright? This is just a prologue and there **_**will**_** be more to come. Click 'follow', click 'fav', click review… Pleeeaaase, just click SOMETHING, so that I know my writing doesn't suck as of yet! Ahem, thank you… ;-)**

Prologue

"Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age

The child is grown, and puts away childish things.

Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies."

― Edna St. Vincent Millay

_This wasn't supposed to happen_…

Such was the only thought that continued running through Robin's mind, over and over.

_This was __never__ supposed to happen…_

He should have seen this coming. He should have known. Where did he go wrong? He took every precaution he believed was needed to help get the job done, but it was not enough. He ought to have learned by now that simply taking precautions is never enough. He should have also tried following his gut, what his feelings were telling him- one would think he ought to have learned _that_ by now, as well.

But no- this time, it was too late. And so right now, all he could do was look on helplessly, into the numerous pairs of eyes that would have once reflected his as a young boy: Dull… distant… devoid of all liveliness and just, well, _frozen_; frozen in that one moment of pure unadulterated horror that haunted each individual's dream when those eyes would close. The eyes moving towards him now, they were all frozen- trapped in their own personal nightmares (whether these nightmares were ever real like his, or not) and there was nothing he could do to help them escape their hallucinations.

Nothing he could do… Just as there was nothing he could do that day when he lost his parents- when he lost his childhood… If he never escaped this tragedy as it repeated in his worst nightmares, how could he help anybody else escape from theirs?

_This wasn't supposed to happen… This was __never__ supposed to happen…_

**Like, love, hate…? Be sure to let me know! Or just click follow, if you're feelin' lazy today and still wanna see where this goes…**

**Again, thanks! :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**God bless y'all who just joined my now tight-knit group of followers… and extra peace and blessin's to those special few that left my first couple of reviews on this puppy. Thank you, and I'll try my best not to let ya down; even if we (yes, **_**we**_**) don't get much more readers to join us on this little venture, I still plan to keep going and see for myself where this story goes. All part of the creative process and all, I guess. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy this chappie- not too much excitement to show for just yet, but it's comin' (and I did at least try to add enough fluffy moments in this one). Let me know what you guys think! :-)**

Chapter I: Tights, Camera Aaand…

"Are they _still_ watching it?" A familiar scratchy voice came from the door to the commons, not meant for the subject(s) of interest to hear…

"Shh," another voice (one that was a bit more raspy, monotonous and slightly feminine) hissed from the same direction. "I don't see how this is any of your business- not to either of you."

"Aw, c'mon Rae," a third voice with a deeper and more masculine tone uttered quietly in reply. "Don't tell us that _you're_ not the least bit curious about what the so-called virtuous and honorable Boy Blunder does with his girlfriend behind closed doors."

… Of course one of the two said subjects- positioned on the sofa and watching television- was as much aware of the conversation behind him as he would've been if it were directly in front of him. Years of intense training on heightening one's senses at all times made the whispered dialogue between the three not-so-subtle eavesdroppers sound more like freakin' stage whispers in his ears. However, the Titan leader continued pretending to be oblivious of his spying friends and/or fellow teammates. At this point, he was already used to having moments of privacy (by himself or with his girlfriend) in which he'll somehow get interrupted, one way or another. At least the days of endless teasing over his new-found love life were slowly ending…

"If answers to that curiosity include Robin sitting through another two hours of Starfire's newly favored romantic movie genres, I think I'll pass." Raven's voice murmured in answer to Cyborg's previous reply.

"_Another_ two hours—!?" There was the audible sound of a small slap, as two individual hands abruptly stopped Beast Boy's near-exclamation. A brief pause of silence, and then: "Duuude," disbelief was suddenly quite potent in the changeling's tone. "You mean he's done this before? What kinda guy could stand watching even one chick-flick without gagging or falling asleep?"

"Maybe a guy who's lost his man-card," Cyborg's voice muttered cheekily.

… Another small audible sound- this time resembling the cracking of knuckles- supposedly came from the couch; okay, maybe those teasing days were not completely gone. Although, they could have easily come to an end by now if a certain tin-man didn't keep encouraging it from his green elfin partner in crime, particularly ever since this teasing had gradually turned into something like a game between the two of 'em. Who would be the first to ignite lover-boy's temper this time? Which tactic of prodding and picking on would put that pulsing vain back on his temple and cause his nose to scrunch up, his nostrils to flare? Maybe some bonus points were given to whoever could provoke his nerves into high gear, enough to make him blush bright crimson everywhere between his ears, forehead and all the way down to the little bit of exposed skin on his neck; this usually required a well-timed sexual innuendo…

A set of thin dainty fingers slowly and playfully walked on their recently manicured tips along the wrist belonging to his fisted hand, which had been resting on his lap- the other hand, still casually strewn with the rest of its arm across the back of the couch, behind his girlfriend's head. The little fingers of said girlfriend proceeded to gradually crawl over his glove, and then gently scratched the surface of it with her pinky like a kitten or puppy might scratch from the other side of their human's door, asking for entrance. His fist automatically relaxed and he smirked, despite himself, right before opening his hand and turning it palm-up to wrap his large fingers around her much smaller ones. Their intertwined hands remained on his lap and she curled closer against his side- her head nestled in the space between his left shoulder and the underside of his jaw.

The movie on the screen before them was reaching its climax and the two leads had met in the dead of night at their secret spot, beneath the old oak that stood beside a small lake. After denying their feelings for so long, they could finally be face-to-face and officially confess the love that they had been hiding from each other all this time. As the couple silently and simultaneously indicated their undying affections by engaging with an intimate slow dance in the midst of the fog, the background music of a woman singing "Love Me Tender" was interrupted when the loud blaring of the Titans' alarm sounded. Not even a second later, the film paused and the TV screen automatically cut itself off at the start of said alert. And not even two seconds after that, Robin was already up and looking at the computer beneath said TV screen.

"Trouble at the docks," he stated plainly as they all gathered behind him.

"Anyone we know?" Raven asked.

"Looks like just some typical thugs passing through."

"Well, that's no fun," Beast Boy pouted.

Cyborg raised a brow. "Ya mean you actually wanted a challenge to take up your couch-potato time?"

Beast Boy began to open his mouth, ready to give his retort, when Robin's often anticipated "Titans, go" exclamation had everyone out of the room instantly- leaving the now peeved green changeling behind.

…

Starfire heard Beast Boy catching up to her and the rest of the team in his hawk form. The two of them flew several feet above the road, where Cyborg was driving the T-Car (with Raven riding shotgun) just below Beast Boy, and then Robin on his R-Cycle just below Starfire. She briefly glanced down at him and smiled softly to herself.

She was feeling very thoughtful these days, ever since the events of Tokyo, and so had been quieter than usual. Her friends (and on occasion, even her recent boyfriend) were a bit unnerved by this behavior at first. However, they all eventually came to the realization that her new-found quiet thoughtfulness was out of new-found sheer contentment.

The way she saw it, Starfire had everything now: A life of her own- not as a princess or a slave, but as a person with the freedom to choose- with a home, friends that cared for her and now (_finally_) a boyfriend who cherished her as much as she cherished him… Both her home planet and her home here on Earth have remained safe, as well. After coming such a long way from how bitter she once was (before finding this world) only a few years ago, things could not get any better for Starfire these days.

The alien girl broke out of her reverie when her fellow teammates veered sharply to the side, making a turn towards the docks. She and Beast Boy followed until the T-Car and R-Cycle stopped behind one of the warehouses before joining their friends on the ground.

"Sooo," Beast Boy began, once morphing out of his hawk form. "What exactly are we looking for again?"

"There've been reports about a few suspicious figures lurking around here lately." Cyborg stated as he locked the T-Car and checked the scanner on his arm. "Cops thought it was some group of juvies tryin' to cause mischief, but that ruled out when storage trucks started randomly appearing."

While Cyborg spoke, both the car and R-Cycle became enveloped in black when Raven used her powers to open up the empty warehouse they were parked by and ease them through the garage door- in order to keep the two Titan vehicles hidden from plain sight. The door remained partially open, though, in case there came a point where a quick exit would be useful.

"But are there not other vehicles that pass through here for similar means?" Starfire's tiny brows furrowed questioningly at Cyborg's previous statement. "Perhaps they are appearing randomly due to a change of schedule."

"Not likely," Raven turned away from the garage and stepped closer to the group, "especially if the workers were the ones who originally reported the situation to the police. But if those trucks were stolen…" She looked to the android for confirmation.

He shook his head. "No, none of the usual storage trucks that come by were high jacked. Only a select few have permitted entry, so the workers around here know each driver by name. These reported trucks are different, workers didn't recognize 'em or any of the drivers."

"Uh, dudes," Beast Boy cut in, pointing ahead of them. When the other three Titans looked up towards that direction, they could see Robin already at the other end of the warehouse (which faced the harbor) and he was waving for them to come over.

In an instant, all five of them were huddled by the wall as Robin peered around the corner a second time, looking somewhere past the front entrance. He took a small step back- out of sight of whatever (_who_ever) was lurking beyond said corner and glanced at his teammates with a subtle nod.

"There are several of them," he mentioned softly, "probably more- hard to tell with the way their ride's parked at the entrance…"

Starfire happened to be the closest next to Robin and leaned around him to catch a glimpse of the strange crew busying themselves around their dark colored truck (no bigger than a moving van, but with its back facing the Titans from a few warehouses down). As Robin said, the position of their vehicle made it difficult to tell what they were doing in the garage. And as acute as Starfire's eyesight was, she still had to lean forward (that is, a little closer against the wall she and the team were standing behind) to attempt a somewhat better look.

Of course, this meant she also had to lean that much closer to Robin, since he was now practically sandwiched between her and the wall. He lost his focus for a moment, his body stiffening at the friction buzzing in the space that separated them by barely an inch at the most. This friction was almost as potent as the force of two magnets pulling at each other. He wanted to obey its pull, but kept his resolve. Mostly.

He did submit to ever-so-subtly turning and lowering his head as if to listen to whatever ruckus might be occurring amongst the suspects (just about a mile or so away, mind you); really, though, Robin was doing so as an excuse to get a better whiff of Starfire's hair- maybe even subconsciously graze his nose lightly over the top of her ear.

The moment was broken when Starfire almost released a sharp 'eep,' after being startled by something crawling over her foot. Sound scarcely left her lips before Robin stopped it by abruptly grabbing her arm and pulling her back around the corner to her original spot against the wall beside him. After shushing his girlfriend, he looked down and noticed the cybernetic hand spying with the little camera installed in its middle finger. He then narrowed his eyes at Cyborg.

The guy in question just shrugged, while adjusting the camera lens from the remote control built into his other arm. "You can bat-glare all you want, bird brain," he smirked. "But we're not getting anywhere with you two turtle doves gettin' all twitterpated."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "What's 'twitterpated'?"

Raven sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh," Starfire smiled, excited that she'd recognized an earth term before one of her teammates did. "That is a word for infatuation, from the delightful children's movie about woodland creatures. The main character- what was his name…?" She tapped her finger against her chin, supposedly not minding that Robin still held on to her other arm from when he'd pulled her back.

"Bambi." All four Titans double-took at the half-demon, remarkably the only one who bothered to answer. "The character's name was Bambi."

They only kept staring at her.

"What?" Raven asked curtly, not letting her monotonous demeanor falter. "Did you forget Star made all of us take turns watching those pointless films with her when she got into that Disney craze?"

They did remember, actually. It was sometime during their first year living together in the Tower. After being introduced to the pastime of movie-watching, Starfire had endeavored to experiment with all types of genres- before she discovered her liking to all sorts of filmed documentaries (often regarding some of earth's odder subjects), and nowadays other films with a touch of romance. At one point, she had heard about the infamous Walt Disney and subjected her friends to watching and explaining to her just about every movie from his _Masterpiece Collection_.

Apparently, they were merely a tad shocked over the fact that _Raven_ (out of anyone else in their group) would be the one to bring up such a subject again, years later…

However, a soft beeping from Cyborg's arm quickly brought everyone's attention away from Raven. Glancing at the display on his arm, he pressed a button or two, and then his hand with its finger-held camera returned from around the corner. Once he'd locked it back in place on his wrist, he turned to his friends.

"Coast is clear. I was able to sneak a few close-up shots and it looks like they're all inside the warehouse for right now."

"Okay," Robin phased back into his leader-mode. "Cyborg and Raven, check out whatever it is they got in their truck. Starfire and Beast Boy, we're heading inside."

Before Robin could even take a step, Cyborg halted him. "Nuh-uh, lover boy," he smirked again. "You two will just get distracted with each other. Best let me and Rae see what these thugs are up to while _y'all_ check out their ride."

Robin's ears began to turn red and his jaw clenched. Ignoring both signs of discomfort, he narrowed his eyes at Cyborg one more time, seething. "Are you saying Star and I can't—" Starfire quickly cut him off.

"Friend Cyborg," she kept eye contact with the android while gently tugging her arm out of the Boy Wonder's grip. She still stood close to him, though, and discretely brushed the back of her hand over his to quietly calm her boyfriend. "Robin and I have been most subtle in keeping a professional appearance during the missions we have had since our return from Japan."

Cyborg folded his arms. "Yeah, but y'all still have your moments."

Starfire replied as calmly as before, batting her eyelashes innocently. "I assure you, we are currently not- as you say- the 'twitterpated'."

"Oh, for Azar's sake," Raven huffed and pushed past her teammates to Cyborg's side. "Just go with Beast Boy to the truck. We're wasting time." And at that, she yanked Cyborg by the elbow into one of her dark portals, disappearing from sight.

A single beat of silence hardly passed before the young couple heard Beast Boy behind them:

"Currently…?" His voice was quiet, yet teasing.

Both turned to find the changeling looking at them pointedly with humor in his eyes as he wiggled his brows- not to mention he had a wide-ass knowing grin on his face, and of course that one snaggletooth showing between his lips.

"You two are _currently_—" he air quoted the forth word as he walked past them, repeating Starfire's comment from earlier, "—not twitterpated, she says."

Robin rolled his eyes beneath the mask and gave Beast Boy an unexpected shove as he passed by. The former Doom Patrol member let out a quick surprised yelp and looked back at the Titan leader sheepishly.

"Go see if you can't sniff out anything hanging around the outside area first."

From where he now stood, Beast Boy looked ahead at the truck and back at them for a split second, one hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Um, right," and then he was a blood hound. He circled around once, taking in the surrounding scents as he sniffed the ground, before following his nose further down towards where the truck was parked.

Still standing in close proximity to each other, Starfire and Robin waited to follow him; and right before she began to trail after Beast Boy, Starfire could have sworn she felt Robin purposely blow in her ear. She lifted herself a few feet into the air (just out of his reach) and looked down at him accusingly, though with a hint of amusement shining in her big green orbs. She knew it was pointless to try hiding her smile.

"You _are _the twitterpated," she half scolded.

"You are imagining things," he countered while one corner of his mouth turned up, into a small crooked grin. "Come on," Robin tilted his head to indicate at Beast Boy, who was now halfway between where they were and where the truck was parked.

When they caught up with him a moment later, he continued sniffing around in his hound form until they reached the suspicious dark colored vehicle. The green hound lifted his head to the air, getting one last whiff.

"Well?" Robin asked patiently.

Beast Boy morphed back. "Nothing," he reported. "No powder, no explosives or anything else I can think of that might raise a red flag."

Robin stepped around Beast Boy as said changeling spoke, pulling an instrument or two from his utility belt, and then started picking at the lock to the back of the truck. He managed to crack it, but the door handle at the bottom was also chained shut with a rather rustic yet sturdy looking padlock.

Robin glanced at Starfire and gestured with his hand in a manner of invitation for her to have her turn. Without needing any further instruction, Starfire casually approached the vehicle, taking the chains in each of her palms before lighting them up. The intensity she channeled through her star-bolts melted through the chains, allowing her to remove them and the padlock with ease. She stepped away to let Robin and Beast Boy lift the door open…

And when it did open, the three Titans stared rather confusedly at what they saw inside the truck. However, they didn't have much time to ponder anything else when a loud bang (followed by a resounding crash) came from inside the warehouse, where their suspects were supposed to be.

Robin answered his communicator seconds later, when he heard the first beep. Sure enough, Cyborg's anxious voice came on speaker:

"I think y'all better come see this…"

**I did say this story was guaranteed to leave people hanging… Though that probably should've come with a side note about my obsession with detail… So pleeeaaase, if ya think I'm adding too much, warn me ahead of time. Say, "Elien, we don't need a effin' play-by-play" in a review and I promise to try and keep my following chapters shorter and more to-the-point. Seriously, I'm open to constructive criticism and would actually encourage that over anything else for reviews. So yeah, favorite/follow/review- good stuff, and it gives me creative fuel! Just FYI! ;-)**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is very wordy, mainly because I was trying my hardest to describe what these newer characters look like while still including a little bit of fighting action at the same time… Not the easiest thing for me; especially considering I've got an online college summer course to worry about (and it's a literature class, which already means lots of papers to turn in), ugh! Anyway, I was half-asleep when I wrote most of this- so if there are parts that don't seem to make much sense, **_**that's**_** why. Seriously, though, I strive to give very vivid mental pictures- so PLEEEAAASE, for the love of humanity (and all the DC worlds in between), let me know if my descriptions are too much or perhaps even lacking something you wanna see more of. Remember what I've mentioned before: Just say, "Elien, we don't need a effing play-by-play!" And whenever you do say so, I'll try my hardest to keep these chappies shorter and more to-the-point.**

**Hope y'all enjoy and share this with your friends! Peace and blessin's!**

**E**

Chapter II: Rendezvous and Who Are You… (?)

When Robin, Starfire and Beast Boy came barging through the warehouse entrance, they were not sure what else to expect other than something that was usually one big group scuffle- which (about nine times out of ten) came after someone's cover had been blown. Among the things these three Titans _most certainly_ did not expect to see was that Cyborg and Raven were, in fact, nowhere within the midst of this group scuffle. In their place, a different couple of vigilantes were fighting the group of men (which turned out to be over a dozen more than Robin had originally surmised) and these 'visitors' were holding their own with much gusto.

One wore a uniform that was mostly made of dark purple material, which had a slight velvety shine to it; complete with boot-cut pants and long sleeve gloves- which opened up with extra fabric (about two-to-three inches long) dangling at the wrists, leaving her hands exposed. Her top (also dark purple) was some kind of sleeveless vest that cut short at the front, while the fabric stretched longer as it lowered diagonally around her sides until it completely covered her back- there, it stopped somewhere at the edge of her hip with the tailed end of a waistcoat. The front part of said top opened wide just above the swell of her chest like a V-neck, with a light green collar folded over her shoulders that matched the color of the belt fastened near her waist. Since this waistcoat-designed vest she wore was held together by just one or two buttons located over the center of her torso, the bottom half at the front of her top opened up in an upside down 'V,' which meant a fair portion of her stomach could be seen above said green belt. And of course the stomach (including any other exposed portion of her body) revealed skin that appeared as though she had been painted head-to-toe in solid white. However, the color of her hair- and also her lips at which the lengths of said hair stopped- had a deep blood red shade, which stood out even in the dark lighting of the warehouse.

She was quite literally dancing around the men that approached her, throwing in a few kicks and back-handed slaps in the midst of twirling away from their attacks. And she was _laughing_- smiling and laughing while they tried to face-off with her, like she was playing a game with them. One of these men, with a crowbar in his hand, happened to shout at her to hold still.

"What's the point of being still—?" She began to ask, while she back shuffled every time the guy took a swing at her, "—especially when ya get plenty of time to do that when you're pushing up daisies," and then in one swift movement (after ducking under the crowbar one more time) she was practically nose to nose with the guy, right before she pressed a button on a yellow daisy broach she had next to the right (that is, her left) collar of her shirt.

A smoky substance emitted from the center of the flower, blinding the man while apparently doing a number on his lungs when he went into a coughing fit. The strange red head used the moment of distraction to land an effective uppercut directly at his chin, with enough force to make the guy topple backwards onto the ground and hit his head hard- knocking him unconscious. As he fell, another group of men charged toward her blind side, but it seemed she had already anticipated their approach (hearing their heavy footsteps behind her).

"Five against one, eh?" She smirked and- without bothering to look back at them- quickly popped something small and round into her mouth, before she turned to face her opponents, adding: "Now, that's just not playing fair." Then (almost like a jumping-Jack), she sprung up in the air, executing a rather graceful dropkick on the first closest adversary. And while still on the soles of her feet, she launched herself again. Only this time it was more of a front flip, as she used the leverage she had from her feet on the first man's chest _and_ from her hands now grabbing hold of the next closest man's shoulders (that is, right after she distracted said next man by yanking his dark beanie over his eyes). With this man temporarily blinded, she pushed herself up with her hands on his shoulders, flipping over him and the other guys close behind him. The second she landed on her feet, the red head gave the dumbfounded men yet another brief distraction, when she quickly turned to face them once more while blowing a piece of the bubble gum she'd apparently put in her mouth a moment ago.

The bubble grew bigger, surprisingly bigger, and then _enormously_ bigger- to the point where the remaining group of men realized too late that they really should have ducked for cover. After one loud resounding pop, though, they were definitely covered alright; all wadded up in a ridiculously thick, sticky and pink mess. "Lucky for you guys," the red head continued. "I don't care how the game is played, as long as I'm the one having fun."

All of this was happening in only a short matter of moments, just long enough for the three baffled Titans to hardly even notice Cyborg and Raven quietly join them at the warehouse entrance.

"Um," Robin heard Cyborg's voice behind him the same time his large robotic hand met the Boy Wonder's shoulder. "Doesn't that girl's style look familiar to you, Rob?"

Robin, still debating on what action to take next- yet also somewhat intrigued with the combat techniques he was seeing- brushed Cyborg's hand away. "I know what it looks like," he muttered in answer.

"And that…?" He heard Raven add, as he caught her pointing finger in his peripheral vision and followed it to the other girl fighting alongside the red head.

This one had deep honey-blonde hair (or perhaps even a bit strawberry blonde, depending on the lighting) that might have been about the same short length as the red head's (if not, only a couple inches longer); it was difficult to tell with her wavy locks being pulled up on either side of her head in small high pony-tails. Her bangs hung above her dark green mask, which- unlike Robin's mask- closely encircled the girl's eyes, but did not exactly hide or cover them. The majority of her outfit shared the same dark green as her mask. This consisted of matching green boots, hand gloves, along with a short sleeve leotard and white-striped tights. What really stood out, though, was a huge question mark emblem (also white) that took up most of the green leotard covering her torso.

She carried what looked like another version of Robin's bo-staff. Only this one was made of a material which, in a way kind of similar to her hair, appeared either gold or coppery (again, depending on the light). One other difference was that her staff had been curved at one end, resembling a hook. Although, upon getting a closer inspection of it- when the girl happened to slam the side of her staff right into an attacker's solar plexus- the Teen Titans could have confirmed that the end of said staff better resembled the question mark emblem on her outfit.

"Didn't Momsy ever tell you not to play with your food or frienemies, Trix?" The girl grinned mischievously over at the red head, who was still dancing through and around her opponents as if in a game.

"Oh, yeah," red head answered, "the same one who told me not to walk and chew explosive gum at the same time!"

"That's enough, you two," another female voice called from somewhere above. However, this particular voice sounded vaguely familiar to the Teen Titans.

And just as the five of them raised their eyes to try and find the source, a net full of heavily stocked crates had supposedly been cut loose from the rope keeping them suspended. The heavy cargo fell on top of yet _another_ group of men trying to gang up on the red head, leaving most of them unconscious and/or trapped beneath the heap while a couple others managed to crawl their way out. As these few men attempted a hasty retreat towards the back (since the Titans continued blocking the main entrance), the cowards were stopped in their tracks when a shadowy figure dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of them. They cautiously started backing up as the figure stalked towards them, until she'd stepped into the dim lighting and the tell-tale design of Slade's mask covering the top half of her face became visible. That along with the gleam of the two katana blades she held in her hands (and the long white hair tumbling past her shoulders) gave the Teen Titans enough indication of who this was- who the familiar voice was…

"Holy spawns-of-a-bad-guy, Batman," Beast Boy breathed. And Robin would have clobbered the green changeling on the spot for using such a reference to the stereotyped cheesy sidekick-puns used to ridicule the Boy Wonder for years.

However, he couldn't argue with the statement- not while seeing three teenage-slash-female reflections to some of the toughest bad guys he'd ever faced gathered here, together in one place.

"Hey," Robin blinked and briefly shook his head after realizing he and his group were the ones being called this time by the Slade look-alike. "You guys want to start helping out now?" She eyed them expectantly (at least with the one eye that was not hidden beneath the mask), and then tripped one of the retreating men by sweeping the edge of her blades beneath his feet.

Two more ran past her, but the first was stopped in his tracks again when just one out of the same pair of swords barely missed the side of his face as it firmly made contact with a string of twine, which held together an even bigger pile of crates (stacked up high like a bunch of other similar piles on the ground floor). The sharpness of the katana blade easily cut through the twine, just as it had done earlier with the net up in the rafters, and so the crates came down on the man- trapping him like the crates from the net did his comrades. The second man that had been running with him, who (unlike his friend) somehow managed to dodge the avalanche of wooden boxes, made another bee-line for the back exit.

Fed up with standing around, Robin finally took command again, pointing towards said guy: "Titans, don't let him get away!" All five of them charged into what was left of the fight and soon, Robin was the only one who wasn't preoccupied with any other attacker. He was practically right on the guy's tail and probably would've had him by now if the idiot quit pushing and pulling crates from other piles into Robin's path as an attempt to slow the Boy Wonder down.

He cursed inwardly when he saw the punk drawing closer to the exit, but then Robin felt a strange surge of something reminiscent to electric energy- at least in the sense that it made the hair near the back of his neck stand on end. It rushed past him in the form of a strange warm mist that assembled in a cloud of beige, chasing after the man until it surrounded him. The Titan leader heard the guy's shouts of protest as his silhouette was raised higher into the air by the cloud. It carried him over the group fight that had begun to slow down, dropping the man on top of the last thug wielding a gun. His surprise from the impact caused him to accidentally pull the trigger, setting the weapon off.

Everyone ducked and Robin used the opportunity to incarcerate most of the remaining brutes while they were still on the floor. More loud bangs sounded when the blonde girl with the question mark emblem also took advantage of the distraction to throw a few round explosives that resembled green cherry bombs at the feet of the other men Robin didn't reach. They staggered backwards and collapsed into their fellow partners in crime, now trapped with them in the sticky pink substance of the red head's bubble gum from earlier. The only ones left were the man with the gun and the guy that was dropped on top of him.

The two made a last attempt to escape- but as flustered as they were, all they could do was try to crawl. Seemingly out of nowhere, a grappling cable encircled them, causing them to fall on their faces and the gun was dropped from its owner's hand. The weapon slid across the floor until it met the underside of someone else's boot.

A beat or two of silence passed before the beige cloud hovering above the final pair of captured men lowered to the floor and evaporated to reveal a fourth young woman. She was _not_ dressed similar to any renowned villain like the other three were; instead, this white-blonde girl with shoulder length hair wore attire that somewhat coordinated to said hair and her pale skin, including her long beige trench coat (buttoned at the top like a turtleneck) and matching shoes, as well as an off-white undershirt and a tight pair of off-white pants. She looked sheepish while turning to the direction where the fifth visitor stood with the gun still under her boot.

"Sorry," the white-blonde said quietly to the stranger, gesturing to the weapon beneath said stranger's foot. "I thought I could make the guy drop it, but didn't expect him to actually pull the—"

"It's fine," Robin recognized this stranger's voice, too- only it wasn't familiar to his other teammates. The person in question used the foot she had on the gun to scoot it closer to her, and then leaned over to pick it up. As she did, her face came out of the shadows and into the dim lighting of the warehouse. "Not your fault these fellas don't know how to handle a firearm…" she added, briefly glancing up to meet Robin's eyes, which immediately began to widen behind his mask.

She looked to be taller than Raven, though just barely an inch or two shorter than Starfire. Also, her uniform was neither that much more different nor revealing than either female Titan. Some of the material had a murky purple-bluish indigo color. This included her long sleeve gloves, the utility belt hanging kind of low on her waist, and her mask; although (like the other masked girl, who wore the question mark emblem), it didn't completely hide her eyes, but it still covered just as much of her face- at least up to where the fabric formed a sort of 'V' shape right above her brow, so the pointed ends stood straight past her forehead almost like a thin pair of horns. Other colors on her outfit included hints of white- such as the outer trim of her lengthy cape (stopping a couple inches above her ankles) and two lines intersecting almost into a thin 't' across her chest. Everything else was as black as her thick, long (nearly to mid-back) hair; including her short sleeve top (still black besides where that thin, white 't' was printed) and her cape, along with her boots and shorts (both covering just as much as Starfire's own boots and mini-skirt), though these spandex shorts were attached to her short sleeve top only from the back- so a fair portion of her stomach remained exposed (kind of like her red headed friend with the purple vest), but the skin there was also no less covered than Starfire's was.

It only took a split second for Robin to register all of these features, as he already recognized the uniform and its wearer. And of course when those dark silvery eyes behind her mask met his gaze, memories came flooding back; then Robin's hands were clenching into tight fists at his sides, and all his fellow teammates could do as they regrouped next to him was watch awkwardly at the silent, yet tense exchange. Luckily, the silence didn't last long.

"_You_," Robin exclaimed in a tone not quite like any kind that the Titans had ever heard before- not even Starfire. The best she could discern of it was some sort of mix between disbelief, accusation, and perhaps slight unease (or regret; Starfire couldn't decide which).

The masked, dark haired young woman merely straightened her stance and raised a brow at the finger-pointing Boy Wonder before she smirked. "You," she echoed, though very nonchalantly as if she weren't anywhere near as surprised at seeing him.

"What are you doing here?" Robin grounded out through his clenched jaw.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She folded her arms defiantly, both brows now raised beneath her mask. "My team just bagged these men, and now we're bringing 'em back to our headquarters for questioning."

Robin's mask grew almost impossibly large- the Titans had not seen his eyes get that big 'round since Starfire lip-locked the civilian boy in Tokyo to learn Japanese.

"_Your_ team… _Your_ headquarters…!?" His voice was steadily becoming louder with outrage. Of course, none of his friends could understand why.

Their leader was gradually heading towards being suspiciously out of sorts- which was fairly… un-Robin-ish (especially when they were all outside the Tower, since he normally stayed as professional as possible on any of their missions); and with this in mind, the four other team members decided it was about time for someone to intervene. Starfire just happened to be that someone.

"Um, Robin," she cautiously inquired after hovering up closer behind him to lightly tap his shoulder. Robin's whole frame remained tense as he briefly granted the alien girl a sideways glance. "May I ask who this girl might be, to whom you are speaking in such a hostile manner?"

The smirk that had been on the masked young woman's face grew wider, into more of a Cheshire-cat grin, as she sauntered towards the Teen Titans and their leader. "Yeah, Robin- why so hostile…? Don't you wanna introduce me to your friends?"

Robin's eyes narrowed into tight slits. "Didn't you just say that you and _your_ friends had to bring the culprits back to your headquarters?"

"I don't think these bozos will be getting away anytime soon," the young dark haired woman scoffed. Looking back at the scene behind her, even the Titans could strongly confirm that the other four girls were now making sure the suspects stayed detained fairly well.

After taking a deep breath, Robin exhaled with a rather reluctant tone in his voice. "Titans, this is Huntress- another former partner of mine before I first came to our city."

**I purposely didn't name but one of the five new characters included in this chapter, which is Huntress- or technically, I gave away a name-&-a-half (Huntress' name and one other girl's **_**nick**_**name) if you were paying close attention… They will all be properly introduced in the next chapter, but I just wanted to see if you caught the gist of what at least the first three girls might look like (hint: remember what Beast Boy said, "Holy spawn****s****-of-a-bad-guy, Batman"). Call this one of my experiments to see how well or even how awful I am at my descriptions. Again, let me know if I actually gave too much- description, that is… Like I said before, constructive criticism is very much appreciated in comments.**

**So yeah… I've already got more of a head-start on this next chappie, and hopefully it won't take as long to finish and update.**

**NOTICE: Favorites &/or Follows + Reviews = Inspiration (which also equals faster updates).**

**Just sayin'. ;-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Uuuh… Remember what I said at the end of chapter 2 about hopefully not taking as long to submit…? Forgive me if I kept any of y'all waiting. Online college classes can be really time-consuming and brain frying and it's definitely not as easy as it sounds.**

**Any-who, I should probably warn you… This is a chapter that specifically focuses on introductions… In other words, SPOILER: what you'll mostly get from here is a chance to meet the new team you read about in the last chappie- only now, you'll get to learn their names and see a bit more of their personalities- while everything else that occurs in between is basically a bunch of banter. Yeah, not exactly a very exciting entry after such a long wait; but I promise once the formalities of bringing in these new characters have been delivered, which is hopefully by the end of this submission, there will be plenty of excitement and funny moments and **_**fluffy**_** moments (and perhaps even a few flashback trips here and there- I'm still deciding on that part).**

**So, yeah. Please, enjoy! And I promise to try and make these remaining chapters worth the wait!**

Chapter III: Introduced, Confused or Refused…

His teammates were almost immediately curious at their leader's choice of words. '_Another former partner_'…? They were all, of course, aware of Robin's mentor- and they only scarcely heard him speak of Batgirl when the five of them first formed as a team- but this Huntress… She was different. If not from Robin's mouth, the Titans had heard at least a few stories through community grape-vines that involved the Boy Wonder's adventures with the Dark Knight and occasionally the other bat-eared female juvenile sidekick. However, none of the Titans could recall any stories they might've heard about a Huntress.

"Pleased to meet you guys," the woman in question nodded at them respectfully, before she began taking the next couple of steps towards them. "Now, I think I've seen enough publicity to know who's who- so let me make sure I got it right." She'd circled around Robin to where she now stood directly in front of the green Titan at one end of the group.

"You… must be Beast Boy." The young changeling smiled in response. "Funny, you seem a bit taller in person."

He let out a short chuckle. "Yeah, well, guess I'm finally getting that growth spurt I've been waiting for."

"Keep dreamin', grass stain." Beast Boy scowled at the murmuring android beside him. Huntress then moved to stand in front of the next said Titan.

"And you should definitely be Cyborg," she eyed him playfully, taking a slight interest in his shiny armor. "The technological genius of the group, I assume."

"You assume correctly, Miss." he replied, not bothering to have a single hint of modesty in his tone. Huntress took another step so that she stood before the goth.

"Hmm- hooded cape, intense stare… I'm pretty sure you're Raven." Huntress didn't appear to have any trouble keeping eye contact with the half-demon. The pale teen nodded in greeting, not saying anything at first, but thought twice about it when she quickly cast another spare glance at the four other girls gradually approaching the team. "Interesting company you keep…"

Huntress merely smiled crookedly. "I could say the same about the rest of you," she indicated to Raven and the other Titans, just as she moved over one more step to face the final red-headed member. "And _you_," she mused, curiously looking at the Tamaranian's figure up and down. "I've been very interested in meeting you, ever since you and Boy Blunder finally came out on that news feed from Tokyo."

Starfire wasn't entirely certain what this masked female meant by the words 'came out', but her reference to Robin and their visit to Japan was just enough to fill in the blanks… So Starfire couldn't stop herself from blushing at the knowledge this stranger already had on her.

"The alien girl, right…?" Huntress cocked her head a little to the side. "You must have a lot of patience to deal with Earth and its strange ways- let alone enough patience to be dating someone like—" she began to gesture a thumb towards Robin, but he quickly interrupted.

"That's none of your business." He grounded out as he stepped between the two girls- Starfire now behind his right shoulder.

Huntress backed away, hands held up submissively. "Yeah, you're right, it isn't." The Titans could see the eyes behind her mask watch him knowingly. "At least, it hasn't been for a while…"

That last comment was fairly questionable to the other Titans- even Starfire wasn't sure how to take it. However, no one chose to respond to it, now that the four remaining girls had all reached Huntress's side. Lined up similar to how their team was, the young women (no older than any of the Teen Titans were) stared back at them evenly.

"So, Titans," Huntress began. "Allow me to introduce you to my teammates, the Outsiders."

"Is _that_ what you decided to call your group?" Robin vaguely chided, with a voice that mostly portrayed dullness or disinterest as he folded his arms.

"Problem, here…?" Robin redirected his cold stare to the spoken person who stood closest to him and Huntress- the one whose position now faced Starfire- as in also the same person who was the only face that _all_ of the Teen Titans recognized (from a previous encounter, not long ago); otherwise the white-haired swordswoman and blood descendant of Slade, himself- the ex-villainess and ex-rival of the Teen Titans, called Ravager.

"I thought you said you were going train on your own for a while before joining a team." The Boy Wonder replied to the stone-faced daughter of his worst enemy. "Actually, I think we were under the impression that you planned to eventually join _our_ team."

Ravager shrugged. "Things change," she stated plainly. "Besides, it's not like I'm turning my back on this whole hero business. These girls—" Ravager, then, gestured her arms at the group she stood with, "—they're all looking for second chances, just like me."

Robin looked back at Huntress incredulously. "Second chances, huh?"

Huntress continued to wear that crooked smile of hers. "We all carry a dark side to our history, Robbie." Something in her eyes changed, but only for an instant- too quick for any of Robin's fellow Titans to distinguish. "You and I both know some of us carry a darker side than most others, which needs to be rectified. That's what makes us the Outsiders." Huntress winked, then, and nodded toward Ravager.

"Seems like your team already knows her history," Huntress's cool demeanor still wasn't fazed when Ravager rolled her unhidden dark blue eye at the comment. "The rest you see here share similar shadows. Maybe someday you'll get to learn a little about each of them."

At that point, Huntress indicated the Titans' to the girl in the long beige coat standing at the other end of her group, who was closest to facing Beast Boy. "This one we call Secret."

The pale skinned white-blonde blinked her bright brown eyes and politely bowed her head. "It is a pleasure, Teen Titans." Her earthy soprano voice was soft, yet somehow resonant- sort of like how Raven could make her raspy voice echo eerily in her teammates' heads when she wanted their undivided attention.

It seemed that the girl, Secret, either completely ignored her effect on the team or simply did not even register it. She just stood there and smiled patiently as Huntress continued down the line. "Next, we have the dynamic duo," the group leader gestured to the honey-blonde with small pony-tails and the red head beside her. "Presenting our criminal profiling specialist, Enigma…" Upon hearing Huntress mention her name, said girl wearing the pony-tails and question mark gave the Titans a lopsided grin. "And of course her best partner in tracking," Huntress went on, nodding in indication toward the red head. "The ever comical, Trixter."

The porcelain-skinned female's blood red lips curled further up until she donned a fairly wide mischievous smirk. "Friends call me Trix or Trixie," she answered in a rather minx-like tone.

"Yes, I've already heard of you," Robin surprised his fellow teammates with his recognition of yet another strange and unheard-of vigilante. "Girl like you must have a pretty vast number of friends, to be called so many nicknames," he said in a taught cool manner while one side of his mask lifted as he quirked an eyebrow at the red head. "Like Scarecrone, Card Queen, Harlequin…"

The red head, Trixter's cocky grin gradually shrank further and further down into a guarded blank stare with each alias Robin mentioned. The rest of his team did not know what to make of the situation now. While sometimes known to be cautious about trusting others, as their leader, Robin was still often considerably polite to any newly-encountered crime fighters and/or meta-humans- willing to at least give most (if not, all) of them the benefit of the doubt. The way he was talking back to the members of this group, however, hinted a rather thick air of tension.

As he continued, Robin's lips were just about to hiss an additional fourth name onto Trixter's list. His teammates could barely make out what sounded like the words "Joker's Dau—" before the girl in green- the one with the question mark emblem, who Huntress introduced as Enigma- rested a comforting hand on Trixter's suddenly rather stiff shoulders.

She regarded Robin through a poker-faced and leveled gaze; her eyes, on an off-note, sharing the same murky green as her aforementioned red headed partner. "I think you've made your point, Boy Blunder," Enigma sounded younger than she looked; basically a teenager with a near-childlike voice, though the tone _in_ her voice (at least right now) wasn't to be taken lightly. "Apples may not fall far from the tree, but they don't haffta share the same color as its leafy branches."

"Heh, got that off a fortune cookie or something?" Beast Boy laughed nervously, hoping to ease the awkward tension.

A subtler version of Enigma's lopsided grin returned as she eyed the changeling, answering dryly, "It's not easy being green."

"I do not understand," Starfire said quietly. "How did this introduction lead to the references of food and colors?"

_How did a thoughtless ally come to lead a team including the daughters of Joker and Riddler?_ Robin thought cynically, as he avoided answering his confused girlfriend and shifted focus to Huntress once again. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Huntress raised her brows beneath the mask and began tilting her head a little way's back at the grumbling detained henchmen. Not a word passed her lips, when Robin quickly added: "I _mean_, what are you doing here in this city- our city…?"

"Still feeling hostile, huh?" She tut at the Titan leader, "And I thought being part of a team was supposed to teach a person how to share."

"Not when it involves separate vigilantes charged onto separate zip codes." Robin immediately retorted.

"As informative as this conversation has been," Raven's voice did that echoing thing in Robin's head (again, like it always did when she wanted the Titans' undivided attention). "I suggest we decide what to do with these bad guys before the cops arrive. Otherwise, they're all going to the city prison and none of us will be taking anybody home for questioning."

"Not tonight, at least," Cyborg finished.

"Technically, they will be going to the prison located in our area." Both teams glanced at Secret, whose calm pixie-like face had been watching each of them (ever since they were properly introduced), with a strangely observant air about her. "We were following the men for weeks and later traced them outside our city limit. Capturing the suspects in your town does not exactly rule out the fact that they originally came from ours."

Beast Boy blinked. "Yeah, so?"

"_Sooo_," Both teams turned again, only this time it was toward somewhere over Secret's shoulders, where several of their suspects had remained stuck in the pink, gooey pile of bubble gum. Trixter's smile was back now as she'd somehow materialized next to the brutes without anybody noticing. "Finders-keepers!" she sang, while pressing the button hidden beneath the petals of her daisy broach. However, rather than emitting some kind of toxic fume like last time, the center of the flower spurted water instead.

… Nothing cute like a squirt gun, of course, but more like a ridiculous amount of water one would definitely not expect to all come out of a tee-tiny girl accessory; because the amount _and_ speed of the liquid coming out of that little broach was not unlike what one sees coming out of a pressure washer, and it soaked away most of the sticky bubble gum surrounding the trapped men. What was left stuck only to their bodies and nowhere else, so they were still detained…

"How does that work out?" Cyborg asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's just a matter of water and temperature," Enigma answered nonchalantly. "See, the sturdy material in the gum's attracted to solid heat, so it clings to warm bodies and even tightens when rinsed with cold water while the rest that isn't attached to anything warm washes away. To get the rest off of these guys, all we'll need is to do the opposite and rinse 'em with hot—"

Raven interrupted once more. "I think he means, how does it work out that you get to bring _all_ of these new prisoners back to your city…?"

Enigma placed a hand on her hip. "Our territory—"

"Our mission," Trixter added, walking back to Enigma's side.

"Our criminals," Ravager joined in.

"And therefore our business," Huntress finished, "as in we'll take it from here." With that said, she nodded at Secret, who took it as a signal to reach out one of her pale hands, which soon faded into a smoky beige substance similar to the cloudy form Robin and the Titans saw her use before. The creamy-colored smoke extended like a serpent, hovering across the room and slithering around the scattered captives, as it dragged them all together in one big huddle. While wrapped around the men, the smoke extended even further and bunched into a thick cloud that opened up like a portal behind them. "Now, if you Titans could establish this with the cops, we'd greatly appreciate it." But when Huntress said these words and began to walk with the rest of her team towards their detainees and the portal leading to their exit, Robin suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her back to face him.

"We're not done, here," he sternly emphasized with the unquestionable look that he gave her.

Huntress let out one short (though loud and mocking, sort of) laugh. "The Bat glare? Really, Robin?"

"Right now, I don't care about any of your bounty hunting tactics." He let go of Huntress's arm, but kept his gaze locked on hers despite her ill-timed jest. "We have an obligation to investigate these criminals, too, and any other threat that comes through our city."

"Don't start with me, Bird-Boy," the cool-tempered leader of the Outsiders was finally beginning to look a little aggravated. "This is _our_ investigation- has been for the past few weeks."

Other members from both teams suppressed a groan or eye-roll out of exasperation. The two leaders were never going to stop at this rate unless someone came up with a compromise before the cops arrived to pick up the prisoners. As the argument between Robin and Huntress escalated in volume, Starfire (feeling more awkward by the minute) averted her eyes and noticed the van still parked outside the front entrance. Struck with an idea, she hovered a few inches to where she could discretely whisper into Cyborg's ear. He immediately opened the screen on his arm and Raven- who was standing close by- saw that he was pulling up pictures of the vehicle, which were taken earlier when their team had first arrived. One close-up photo showing the back of the van stood out in particular.

"Hey," Cyborg called, failing to get the bantering pair's attention. The two leaders were shouting now. And by the awkward looks on the other girls' faces, the Titans could tell it wasn't normal for Huntress to be this out-of-sorts on a mission, either.

Starfire, then, took it as her turn to try and intercede. Floating closer to Robin's side, she cautiously tugged at his sleeve. "Um, Robin," Starfire hoped that her voice didn't sound as tiny to him and Huntress as it did to her.

Robin, not paying any mind at all, shooed her hand away. Unsure what else was left to do, Starfire looked back at her friends with concern in her eyes. The boys just stood there, bewildered. Raven, on the other hand, was growing tired at playing the role of intervention today; Robin's little almost-tiff from earlier- on being called out for his twitterpated-ness by Cyborg- was a small kind of mishap that she could understand (every once in a while, that is)… But the behavior she was seeing in him at this moment nearly border-lined ridiculousness.

Raven swatted the side of Beast Boy's shoulder without so much as turning her head, and he gave her a confused look.

"Wha—"

"Wake them up," was all she said.

It took a couple seconds for Beast Boy to understand what she meant, but he quickly recalled the same code phrase Cyborg would give him when they wanted to bring Raven out of her deeper meditations- most of the time so they could properly beg her either to play on one of their teams or be referee in their epic Stank-Ball tournaments. Beast Boy decided to use his favorite form; one that he believed could wake Raven whether she'd be meditating, comatose or even downright catatonic.

Robin and Huntress were close at being nose to nose, while exclamations of duty and rights and jurisdiction continued to fly, as well as a few spare (and very brief) side comments having something to do with the words 'old bat' or 'reckless' or 'conceited'. Both of them ducked at the sudden loud and mediocrely-trumpeting sound of a full grown green elephant standing only a few feet away, and they instinctively withdrew the first conveniently stored weapon from their utility belts.

The deep crimson bowing-wing shaped bird-a-rang held in Robin's hand was not too unlike the murky indigo crescent-moon shaped blade that Huntress had in hers (most likely made for the same effective use). Having noticed this, the two of them cast the same reminiscent distant look at each other's weapon from the corner of their eyes, and then gradually- even simultaneously- straightened out of their defensive stance.

The blaring of sirens had been drawing closer to the warehouse while they were bickering, and they could now hear the high-pitched spills from the wheels at what sounded like less than merely several miles away.

Eyes guarded and trying to hide their self-consciousness- after basically exploding into a non-professional dispute in front of their teams _and_ their gawking captives (at least the ones that were still conscious) - the pair looked at the other Titans, this time rather patiently.

Since she was the one who made the discovery about to be told, Starfire used the opportunity to speak:

"You have been investigating these men for a while, yes?" Of course the question was directed to Huntress.

Said dark haired Outsider grazed a hand over her crescent shaped blade- a weapon that the Titans would later find out to have ironically been called a lunarang- and once folding it down, she placed it back in her belt. "I don't see where you think you're getting at by asking, but for the fourth time, yeah. We have been tailing them."

Starfire cast a discrete glance to the screen left open on one of Cyborg's arms, which were folded at his chest, before she returned her line of sight to Huntress. "Have you not ever discovered the chance to inspect their means of transportation?"

Huntress noticed the alien's fleeting look at the android's armor and eyed the two of them suspiciously. "Why?" Knowing that something was up, she didn't bother adding an actual answer to Starfire's question and instead waited for the catch she'd vaguely suspected to hear.

**Just so you know, I do not own the Outsiders any more than I do the Teen Titans (sad for me)… BUT the organization of team members in the group was, in fact, done by moi. Originally, the Outsiders preceded their name as a sort of **_**outer**_** branch of meta-human rejects whose questionable heroic records didn't get them accepted into the Justice League; instead these misfit vigilantes were recruited by Batman as more of a 'black-ops' group not directly connected to the JL, but they were technically allies willing to face public opinion with their slightly harsher crime fighting tactics- taking chances the JL normally would not. You know the whole good-cop/bad-cop scenario? While the Justice League played the good cops, the Outsiders (as allies) basically played bad cops.**

**Like most cases with DC comics, the story behind the Outsiders can come in different versions. For instance, the Outsiders kinda had this on-&-off thing of being recruited, led and/or dropped by Batman; other times the team was somewhat started (again?) by someone else- like in some early 2000s' comic editions, the Outsiders started instead with a few similar misfits as well as a number of previous **_**Titan**_** members (including Arsenal- a.k.a. Speedy- and even Nightwing), so one could say this version of Outsiders branched more from the Titans than the Justice League… but that's just my opinion.**

**Anyway, the Outsiders **_**I've**_** presented in this story were not among the original members from DC comic's version(s) of Outsiders- at least, I don't think any of them were. I just decided to add a little bit of a twist by making the majority of these girls Outsiders due to their familial relations/past. Also, I chose Huntress as leader mainly for two reasons: One is because of her past connections to the Bat family (which you'll find out about later) making her leadership in the Outsiders feel a tad more 'believable' to me, since both Batman and Nightwing were involved with the team in DC comics. The second reason… well… you'll have to find that out later, too.**

**I'm debating on whether or not I should somehow include the back-stories from the rest of the Outsiders in this fan-fic; y'all are fairly likely to hear more of Huntress's history, but PLEEEAAASE let me know if you might wanna learn about Secret, Ravager, Enigma (Riddler's Daughter) or Trixter (Joker's Daughter)… The name, Trixter, was something I made up by the way (as she's usually referred to herself as the latter [JD] or her civilian first name in most DC comic appearances) - so I wanted to give her a title that didn't automatically associate her with somebody else or her human identity.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I forgot to add in my section about the Outsiders at the end of chapter 3 that if anyone might be feeling confused as to when the Teen Titans ever met Ravager- daughter of Slade- she actually appeared in issue #49 of the Teen Titans Go! **_**comic book series**_**, which has been based on the original cartoon show we all know and love (meaning the comics are of no relation the similarly named Teen Titans Go! TV **_**comedy show**_** that recently came out). At first, Ravager was seeking vengeance for her father, wanting to carry on his primary goal of destroying the Teen Titans for good; but by the end of the comic issue, the Titans are able to convince her that she doesn't have to be a villain just because her father was one- that she no longer has to be daddy's little girl anymore and is now free to make her own choices- and that's when Ravager agrees to train by herself elsewhere until she 'feels ready to face her future' as a newly converted hero. I decided to let said event take place some time prior to this post Tokyo fan-fic, for the convenience of the plot ('cuz otherwise, it probably would have taken longer for the Titans to grow acquainted with **_**three**_** new villain look-alikes as opposed to the two they gotta get used to now- as in the daughters of Joker and Riddler, named Trixter and Enigma).**

**Again, if y'all would like to know more about any of the Outsiders'- like Trixter and Enigma's background, or Ravager's, or Secret's- please leave a comment to let me know… Best tell me sooner rather than later, since I'll have to find out where to squeeze in any flashbacks… You'll be learning a fair bit of Huntress's history already, considering her past links to Robin and the Bat family, so don't worry about her.**

**Okay. I'm done babbling now. Favorite and/or follow if you've enjoyed this story so far, and reviews are as appreciated as they are inspirational- so please help keep the creative mojo flowing!**

**Peace and blessin's!**

**E**

Chapter IV: Are You or Are You Not… (?)

Starfire had seated herself upon one side of Robin's bed- leaning mostly on her hand that rested atop the mattress- with those long bare legs facing the door (boots having been removed) and her upper half turned more towards where he sat at his desk. The past few minutes recently consisted of nothing but silence, other than the sounds coming from Robin's hands typing rapidly across the keyboard to his computer. Starfire fiddled the edge of her skirt with the free hand she wasn't leaning on; at least until she soon felt that the silence had become too thick.

"Has she always been this way?"

Robin stopped typing and paused for a moment before realizing who his girlfriend was talking about.

"Ah- yeah, sort of. I guess." He shrugged without turning to look at her.

Another small beat of silence…

"I mean, Huntress might seem a bit—" Robin thoughtfully scratched behind his head, "—_proud_… and rough around the edges at the same time… but, in a way, she's really not too different from me." This time, he turned his head and noticed Starfire giving him a perplexed look.

"What I'm trying to say is, we're alike in the sense that we don't tend to allow most people into our personal lives," he added while rotating his chair to face her more directly. "You've noticed that we both wear masks, and you know I wear mine because I have another identity to protect- another life I was born into before ever becoming Robin. It's the same thing with Huntress- she has a second identity of her own that also needs to stay protected."

Starfire scooted further onto the mattress to lie across Robin's bed on her stomach, arms folded up front so she could rest her chin atop of them, while the legs (from the knees, down) no longer hung off the bedside and instead suspended themselves as she lightly swung 'em back and forth like a pair of metronomes.

"But there are plenty of heroes on Earth, who have other identities like you and the Huntress," she replied, "even Cyborg and Raven and Beast Boy—"

"Yes, that's true," Robin nodded. "It's just, well, not all heroes keep their other identities secret for the same reasons. Sort of like what Huntress said before: some of us have a darker part of our personal history that we don't really like to remember or talk about- something from our past, linked to our secret identity, that we might regret or want to fix someday but not right now."

Starfire lifted her chin from where it'd been resting atop her folded arms. "And that is a similarity that you and the Huntress share…?" The alien's exotic emerald cat-eyes showed all the gentleness and concern that now lingered in her tone of voice.

Robin didn't say anything at first, and then he quietly scooted his chair forward to get closer to her, so that their eyes were closely leveled with each other when he peeled off his mask. A sincere looking pair of deep blue eyes stared back at Starfire, as Dick Grayson raised one hand to caress her cheek.

"I wouldn't change anything about my past," he finally answered, "because it made me who I am today. It brought me here to the Titans and to you."

A heartwarming smile gradually began to adorn Starfire's face while the concern behind her eyes was replaced by a brilliantly happy shine.

Dick went on. "I may have had regrets in that past- some of which I probably could not ever fix- but I've learned as long as there's forgiveness, there's always a chance at starting over."

Starfire placed her hand over his, keeping Dick's palm against her cheek. "So, you have truly learned to forgive…?"

He nodded, again. "It took longer for me than it really should've, but things got easier once I figured out how to forgive myself, first."

"If what you say is true," she removed his hand from her cheek, only to cradle it in both of hers while leaning on her elbows, "then why does it seem as though there has been something about Huntress that you have not yet forgiven?"

Dick sighed and looked away. "It's complicated," was his single reply.

Then, Starfire had her turn at caressing her boyfriend's cheek- even if it was simply just to make him meet her eyes again. "What precisely is so complicated?" she pressed softly. "Does it have anything to do with there being a difficulty in explaining why you cannot completely forgive Huntress, or perhaps a difficulty in explaining why specifically to _me_?"

"Star—" Dick was about to turn his head away from her hand, when she stopped the attempt by taking either side of his face in both hands.

"Are you afraid that I will judge you?" she continued, "That I will not understand…?"

"_No_," Dick exasperatedly grabbed Starfire's wrists, pulling her hands from his face. "It's nothing like that."

"So _tell me_," she insisted. "What exactly is 'it' that you say is complicated?"

"It's _her_, alright?" Dick rose from the chair, looking aggravated as he ran fingers through his hair, and then placed the mask back on. "Huntress is 'it'."

He walked back to the desk and rested his palms on either side of the keyboard, purposely averting his face from Starfire by staring at the computer screen. "Actually, I think 'it' mostly involves what I'm sure her reaction will be, if I do forgive her and she somehow finds that out."

Starfire watched him from where she was still sprawled across the bed. "And what do you suppose Huntress's reaction will be?" When Robin did not immediately answer, she tried another question: "Why does it matter to you?"

This time he did immediately answer. "It doesn't," he said curtly.

"So you find it complicated to forgive the Huntress because of what you suspect her reaction might be…" Starfire began to clarify.

"Basically," Robin answered, having turned to look at her again.

"… But none of this matters to you at the same time." She quirked a tiny eyebrow.

Robin blinked behind his mask once, and then twice. "… I think you've been spending a little too much time with me, even as my girlfriend."

Starfire tilted her head innocently, feigning obliviousness at what he meant. Or was she?

"You're starting to get pretty good with this interrogation stuff." He returned to the bed and kneeled down at her level.

She smiled widely. "I have observed from the best."

He gently took her chin in one hand, pausing for a few seconds before continuing. "It's not that the whole complication around forgiving Huntress doesn't matter to me. It just doesn't matter, _right now_. We have this mission to complete, first."

"I suppose you do not find it imperative to rectify your relationship with Huntress before our team conspires with hers to solve said mission." She murmured.

"Not while we're trying to keep our alliance strictly professional, no." He kissed her nose. "By the way, that was a clever thing you did earlier- having Cyborg check out the van's license plate on the pictures he took."

"Oh, yes," Starfire blushed a bit at her boyfriend's compliment. "Of course, if nobody had noticed that the numbers listed the vehicle and its owner to originally come from our area—"

"The Outsiders could've walked away with all of the prisoners and our mission would have been completely cut off." Robin finished.

Starfire batted her eyelashes at him, while he still held her chin. "Does this give me the chance to test my newly accumulated interrogation skills alongside you, when you speak with one of those prisoners in a few minutes?"

Mentally thrown-off by her question, Robin leaned back a ways- scratching the back of his skull awkwardly with his free hand- while trying to come up with a polite disapproval. "Uuuh…"

"Robin," he noticed Starfire smirking (yes, _smirking_) the way he often did these days. "I was merely making 'the joke'."

He grinned as she started giggling and nuzzled her nose with an Eskimo kiss. "You really _have_ been spending too much time with me."

…

"What does _this_ one do?" Trixter squealed delightedly as she reached to press another button.

Beast Boy could only attempt pushing her back. "Dude, these buttons are not toys!"

Cyborg leaned against a monitor, watching the scuffle with a smug look on his face. "Says who, man?"

"Says meh—" the changeling stopped abruptly, glaring at his friend. "I so don't like you right now."

"At least you finally understand why the rest of us tell people that we can hardly take you anywhere." Raven materialized into the room, standing beside Ravager by the four inch one-way plexi-glass window, which allowed them to look at the next room without their suspect being able to see anything on his side other than his own reflection upon said glass.

"So big and round!" Trixter laughed while she quite literally climbed over Beast Boy's back, trying to reach another large (and important-looking) button.

An innuendo of "that's what she said" was right at the tip of the green teen's tongue, but he was too busy keeping the clowny woman from touching anything else, and so turned to the next closest Outsider member perched near Cyborg. "Aren't you gonna at least try to help stop her?"

Enigma looked up from filing her nails. "Oh, there is no stopping her until she's given something else to do. Trixie never likes to stay still. Unless it's required for her as part of a mission, she cannot contain herself."

Beast Boy groaned as he pushed all of his weight against the prying Trixter. "_Can't_ or won't…?"

"I'm afraid even that is a difficult question to answer sometimes," Secret's voice echoed out of nowhere as she materialized into the room in a way similar to Raven, but of course it was through her beige cloud-like form instead of the goth's dark shadowy version. She stood close to Huntress, who was leaning in one corner of the room that was right by the door to the interrogation chamber- where their suspect sat, cuffed to the steel table.

Huntress had been exceedingly quiet compared to the smart aleck side of her that the Titans first met earlier. And the way she was positioned against the wall in that darker corner of the room- with the sole of one foot lifted up to meet said wall, while her arms folded over her chest as her complexly pensive looking face seemed to stare somewhere past the floor- well, it was almost an unnerving resemblance to Robin when he, too, ever went into what Cyborg and Beast Boy often called his more-serious-than-usual 'Bat-Mode'. In fact- as she was somewhat silhouetted in the shadows of her little corner- the way that the top part of her mask formed its 'V' shape above her forehead (with two pointed ends) suddenly appeared more similar to the tipped ears of the Dark Knight's bat cowl, rather than just the shape for a pair of thin horns that the Titans pictured them being when meeting Huntress for the first time.

"Keep still, Trix," was all she needed to say in a low murmur.

And at that, Trixter abruptly stopped pushing and straining for any of the buttons while Beast Boy had recently turned into an oversized octopus, managing to wrap his tentacles around one arm as well as her middle. When she ceased struggling and leaned back into a casual stance, Trixter glanced back to leer at Beast Boy, who stared back at her with the equivalent of an uncertain look on his cephalopod face.

His tentacles steadily released their hold, dropping the strange clowny red head from where they held her in mid-air. She landed gracefully on her feet, like the Titans had seen her do before when she'd all but danced around the henchmen in the warehouse. The changeling morphed back to his normal form and grinned self-consciously, his elfin ears twitching.

"So, uh," he shuffled his feet, looking between Trixter and Enigma. "Are your dads really, um, you-know-who…?"

"Whom," Enigma replied.

"I mean, are you two the actual daughters of… well…" Beast Boy struggled at uttering the names of the two villains, thinking Enigma purposely asked her question to make him say what was on the other Titans' minds.

She shook her head at him before he could finish. "No, I think what you meant to ask was whether Trix and I are really kin to you-know-_whom_, not you-know-who."

By the time Beast Boy registered Enigma's grammatical correction and was about to make a retort, the door to the room they all waited in slid open to reveal Robin and Starfire as they entered through from the hallway.

Huntress glanced up from where she'd been silently staring at the floor. "Finally," she grumbled and stood straight in the corner she was previously leaning against.

Robin eyed her with an air of warning on his face, gently and wordlessly directing Starfire to go stand by Raven with a light nudge from his hand on the curve of her back. "Don't push it," he said to Huntress with the same warning air in his tone of voice. "This is our tower, remember- as in the Titans Tower…?"

"Whatever," Huntress waved him off, indicating rather impatiently that he open the door to the interrogation chamber, where their suspect was still waiting.

All eyes were on the two leaders when they walked into said chamber, but there were also two pairs of eyes in particular that watched the Boy Wonder and his ex-partner a bit closer than the others. Ravager had her reasons, especially after choosing to run with the Outsiders instead of following her original plans with the Titans. Starfire had her reasons as well, considering there was an odd feeling somewhere deep in her gut that told her there was more between these team leaders than her boyfriend had recently told her.

**I apologize for the scattered delays of submissions to this story; ideas have been coming and going at a strange crazy pace that I'm still trying to get control of. Hopefully, this time off in the mountains that I'm about to have will help clear my head- giving room for better, more vivid ideas. The plot's coming, I promise. Next chapter will be about what happens in the interrogation chamber, which will likely give the opportunity for a better glance at the kind of relationship going on between Robin and Huntress. INTRODUCTIONS ARE ALMOST OVER, PEOPLE, AND THEN THE REEEAAALLY JUICY STUFF SHALL FINALLY BEGIN! ;-))**

**I hope those of you who've been reading since day one will keep bearing with me on this venture. I know it's slow right now, but I can feel a period of immense inspiration coming on; trust me, I can tell from the tingling in my fingertips!**

**WITH THAT BEING SAID, REVIEWS WOULD DO A LOT OF GOOD AT HELPING BRING ON MORE OF THAT INSPIRATION- THAT AND CLICKING TO FAVORITE &/OR FOLLOW HELPS ME, TOO!**

**Also, I hope you at least enjoyed the bit of Rob/Star fluffiness in this chapter if nothing else. And, again, I promise there will be plenty more to come… :-)**

**Hang in there, guys- this is about to get exciting, so lend some helpful reviews, favorites or follows to let me know you're still with me on this ride!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Got something a little exciting for y'all today… A BRIEF FLASHBACK CHAPPIE, WOO-HOOO! The little section(s) I'm including in this chapter that provide(s) a short glimpse into the past is a small token of appreciation from hearing your wonderful comments (not that every chapter I post doesn't represent the same magnitude of said appreciation, because they do [all of 'em], though this one was made a tad more special [wink-wink])- and, of course, it's also my way of letting you guys know that I am in fact listening to your comments… ;-)**

**So I hope I'll get to hear even more of your suggestions after this; 'cuz believe me, I do appreciate the little bits of praise I'm getting for this fan-fic (makes the writer side of me get all moony, warm and fuzzy inside, lol), BUT I DO ALSO **_**GREATLY**_** APPRECIATE SOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND **_**ESPECIALLY**_** ANY REQUESTS ON WHAT READERS MIGHT WANNA SEE! It's a part of my strong belief(s) as an aspiring writer that the door oughta swing both ways between the reader(s) and the author- whether it's for a best-selling novel (I **_**wish**_** [sighs dreamily]), or a simple online piece of fan fiction (gotta start somewhere, right[?])… THAT MEANS HOWEVER MUCH Y'ALL ARE WILLING TO GIVE ME, I AM CERTAINLY WILLING TO GIVE BACK AS BEST AS I CAN! :-))**

… **Not to mention it provides a perfect ploy to make you guys leave me more reviews (smiles mischievously). Again, I do enjoy getting likes and favorites- so please, keep 'em coming- but I'll admit I have recently become a bit of a review junkie… :'-(**

**Terribly addicting disease, it is.**

**Just terrible!**

**Really, it's quite traumatic.**

**Like those Shingles commercials, an unadulterated-kind-of-painful!**

*****_**Ring***_** (Answers cell phone…) Yes, this is Elien, here.**

*****_**Raven's voice**_***: You're a worse staller than Robin's been on occasion in these past few chapters! Get on with the story!**

*****_**Me**_*** (Seeing a long shadowy bird claw reaching out of the phone towards my face): Okay! OKAY! Fine, I'll get on with it!**

*****_**Large scary black bird claw disappears & the phone line goes dead**_*****

*****_**Me**_*** (Staring at my phone like 'WTF'!?)**

… **Please enjoy this new chapter, while I change my cell number… :-P**

Chapter V: Keeping Score While Taking Names

Ravager POV-

I know what people see when they look at me- or rather, _who_ they see. They don't see me for who I am, as my own individual self. No, they see a reflection (a shadow) of _him_… A lonely girl playing dress up in _his_ suit… _his_ mask… and for a time, _his_ shoes in the old figurative term. Really, I had already expected as much. Actually, for a while I even enjoyed it, when I first started wearing the uniform.

I was Daddy's little girl.

Or at least I wanted to be… Never did earn _his_ trust… _his_ respect… _his_ praise.

Then again, felt like it was all I had to hope for while growing up.

My mother wasn't exactly the best role model. She was a runner- like Cinderella, I used to think- where she'd lug me from one make-shift home to the next, leaving behind a bunch of ex's. In my little girl imagination, they were a bunch of frog princes that Mom simply kept claiming not to have been 'the right fit,' like her Cinderella role was reversed and these guys were the ones required to try something on. Luckily, I found out at what would be a less traumatizing age that what all of these supposed frog princes were really trying on was my mother, and the only thing green about said frogs was the green in their pockets- which they gave her in exchange for their 'fitting sessions'. By the time Mom and I finally settled down somewhere near Queens in New York, she did have the decency to keep a _workplace_ with her other recent girl friends who shared similar cheap aspirations, while she and I had our own little piece of shelter at a run-down apartment building. At that point, I was close to fourteen and did whatever I could to avoid coming home- not necessarily due to being ashamed of my mother's occupation (though, I'll admit it might've played a small part), but it was mostly because of how obsessed she was over wanting to hole me up in there. And it didn't feel like she was doing so in a maternally protective sort of way, like she wanted to keep me hidden from the world's cruelties; instead, it felt like she wanted to keep me hidden from the world in general.

I found out why on the day that she actually brought a man home with her- a strange and mortally wounded man with a patch over his right eye. Mom and I never really bonded that much, ever since I learned how to basically take care of myself at a very young age (and _especially_ after I learned how she's taken care of herself over the years). But we did gradually start patching some things up a little better while we also patched up said man, who I later discovered was indeed my father.

Long story short: I saw him as my way out of the gutter. Though Mom did care for me in her own odd way, the role(s) behind that whole maternal title never did suit her. Some people just aren't meant to be parents; and I thought since my mother was content enough where she was, perhaps my new found father could give me something different in life. I followed him, tried to please him, but no matter what I did it was never enough. And so, when my chances of earning an apprentice-ship had sailed, he ran out on me and I was completely on my own.

Looking back, I never truly had a real family. And I guess that's partially the cause of all the bitterness and rejection I felt afterwards. It seemed as though there was nothing left to hold onto, except my hate that left a heavy ache inside I couldn't get rid of.

I thought the cure to that might've been proving myself, by doing what my father couldn't- by putting an end to his adversaries, the Titans. Again lucky for me, I found out that the answer to my problems would never rely on what I do, but _who I am_.

I am not Daddy's little girl. Not anymore.

What I wear may show me as a part of my old man's legacy… but not _his_ malice… _his_ diabolical plots… and especially not _his_ life.

My father's blood still runs through my veins, along with my mother's. The uniform I chose to keep is a reminder of that, but I've come to acknowledge my time with them as an entirely different life. After meeting the Titans and realizing I could pick my own destiny, I decided right then and there that I had the ability to pick a new life for myself- a second chance to start over.

And the day when I felt I could officially start over is a day I'll always treasure. It was a day when it seemed as though I was briefly a kid, again- and this time the whole world was like a playground… For me and the new friends I would make… and the new family I would finally have…

After all, that was the very day I met Joseph:

_I'm pretty sure he's seen me, probably the same way I've seen him these past few months (after settling matters with the Titans)- which has only been in my dreams, up till now. The first time I dreamt of him, I was confused at who he was. I mean blonde hair, big green eyes, dressed oddly and playing guitar as if he were a bohemian… No one would ever guess that we were related._

_Funny thing about having precognitive powers in your sleep, though: when you're sharing a dream with someone else who has his own special mental powers, you kinda feed off of what's going on in each other's mind during said dream. That's how we discovered our tie to one another. And I was hell-bent on meeting him face to face since then._

_I had only recently discovered my precognitive talents and, honestly, they're really far too subtle to even brag about or have control over. As I've implied before, whenever they do occasionally occur, it only happens in my sleep; so it took some time to track my fellow mystery dreamer down, despite the help in records about him that I'd gathered from the Titans' network- considering he'd been made a recent member not too long ago._

_Following the clues seen in my dreams and the little bit of information I had on him from the records, I eventually tracked him down… And that is why I am now standing here, right in front of him, seeing him in person for the first time. Aside being a tad shorter than I originally pictured, he looks exactly the same as he did in my dreams. Or would that be __**our**__ dreams?_

_My throat's feeling kinda dry all of a sudden. What do I say to him? There are just so many things I wanna know, so many questions I wanna ask. Where can I possibly start? Should I ask about what happened to __**his**__ mother, or is that subject a little too touchy to begin our conversation with? Maybe he's used to expressing feelings more physically, what with his condition and all. But would a hug be awkward, or too forward maybe?_

_At least he's smiling at me. That's a good sign, I guess._

_What's he reaching for in one of his pockets, though? A small writing pad and a pen, eh…?_

_Well, I'm glad one of us remembered that I don't know much about sign language. Oh, he's giving me the paper now… I'll admit, I was afraid that this might feel strange and uncomfortable to him, seeing me in such a familiar uniform. I mean, after all, Jericho's looks- unlike mine- are a far cry from any paternal resemblance. Must take more after his mother, then. Good, I'm happy for that- pretty sure he is, too._

_He's still smiling at me._

_I'm smiling, too, now that I've seen what he wrote on the paper: '__**It's great to finally meet you, Rose.**__'_

_Looking back at him, I know what I want to say this time: "It's great to finally meet you, too. Brother."_

…

"I know you're gonna keep asking, but I'm givin' ya the damn-honest truth!"

Ravager came out of her short reverie at hearing the apprehended suspect's voice shouting through the speakers hooked to the hidden mikes inside the interrogation chamber. It almost sounded like she was standing right next to the man, but that was to be expected since the speakers were directly above where Ravager stood- in front of the four inch one-way plexi-glass window that looked into said interrogation chamber.

The darkness and soft humming of computers within the monitor room seemed to entice Ravager as well as the others around her into a pensive daze of sorts. Then again, the fluorescent lighting coming from the chamber through the plexi-glass (along with the ranting suspect's voice in the speakers) was enough of a stark contrast to keep them all awake and alert, while both teams listened to the argument between their leaders and the agitated man.

"I mean it," the guy exclaimed, shifting nervously in the chair with his wrists still cuffed to the table. "I don't know nothing about what you say you've seen. I'm just a delivery boy at best. I drive the truck, pick up the goods from one place, drive some more and smuggle those goods into another place. That's it! That's all I know- I ain't got nothing to tell ya's about any scam!"

Robin stood by one corner of the table, with Huntress at the opposite end. She leaned one hand on the edge and glared the henchman directly in the eyes. "So you mean to say that you have absolutely no idea as to why you're hauling crates of anesthetics, spices and _children's snacks_ between here and Bludhaven?" The man glared back at Huntress and the two were momentarily locked in a stalemate, until he suddenly appeared to lose his nerve and redirected his gaze to the table's surface.

Robin, then, seized this subtle display of vulnerability by taking it as an opportunity to trick the guy through a different approach. "Even if what you tell us is true and you don't know anything about why you're smuggling this stuff, you must have at least been curious over what all of it is being used for." He walked from his spot at the corner of the table to stand on the side across from the henchman, so they would be face to face.

"Ah… I juh—just…" The man sighed aggravatingly. "Lookit, I'll admit that I've seen some shady crap in my time and that I definitely haven't dealt with cargo as strange as—" he nodded while rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders (like he was trying to avoid naming the smuggled items), "—yeah, the groceries your girl here just listed."

"She's not my girl," Robin replied simultaneously with Huntress, who gave the same response: "I'm not his girl." The two leaders glanced briefly at one another from the corner of their eyes. Luckily, the man couldn't tell with Robin's being covered by the mask.

Huntress noticed the suspect was now directing his attention the tension between them, showing that this new curiosity was starting to gradually make him become less intimidated.

She couldn't have that.

"You seem to like avoiding the subject of what we found in your truck, Mr. Froman." This time, Huntress leaned one hand behind said man's chair and he immediately went back to avoiding any eye contact. "First, I 'list' what exactly we found- while all you do, right then, is look away." She slowly circled around him in order to get the tell-tale sign that he was feeling intimidated once more by having her at his blind spot; sure enough, his shoulders went rigid. "And then, as you point out my list just now, you still can't look us in the eye _and_ you don't even bother repeating the items I named."

Even standing behind him, she'd detected that the man had gulped before answering. "I don't know what you're talking about." Huntress shifted her gaze over at Robin, exchanging a look with him. One thing that had not changed between them was how they could wordlessly communicate during missions when analyzing the current situation. Robin stared back evenly, keeping a poker face, but all Huntress really needed was the subtlest nod (unnoticeable to the man he stood directly in front of, who was too focused on worrying about where she was- still in that blind spot behind the chair).

When she saw that nod, Huntress knew she'd been confirmed- after whatever Robin saw cross the man's face- that she had hit a nerve. "Oh, c'mon now, Froman…" Huntress lowered her head so that she was speaking just behind the guy's ear, knowing it could help shake him that much more by causing the skin there to crawl. "Let's not get wrapped up in this merry-go-round thing, again." The man called Froman squirmed in his seat and sniffed, as she circled back to her original spot at one corner of the table, while Robin also returned to his at the other end.

Now, Robin was the one leaning one hand on the table's edge, speaking calmly. "You don't have to tell us who did what and where," he explained. "All we want is a name." Robin was reluctant to settle with that- but from what he'd gathered, this guy honestly didn't act the part for a mobster that might know any more than what he already mentioned. Like Froman said, he was just a delivery boy at best, nothing more.

"Just a name, and then I'm done?" The man asked.

"Yeah or two, if you're feeling generous," Huntress swiftly replied in her cynical manner.

Robin leaned a bit closer into the guy's peripheral vision to get his attention. "_Just_. A name," he emphasized, and even though this Froman guy would never be able to notice, Huntress could tell that- despite how his face was turned toward their suspect- Robin's eyes behind the mask were really projecting another warning glare directly at her… A subtle way of reminding her not to push it, or in more basic terms, _shut the hell up_.

Huntress maintained her poker face, but her own eyes became two sharp glinting points that would've pierced straight through Robin's head. She knew things were different between them now and had accepted that, but a small portion of her was hoping that they had finally reached a middle ground once again, ever since he too came to the decision to step out on his own as she did. And this same small part of her was still hoping that she wasn't wrong to think so…

…

Huntress POV-

It really does bring back memories. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could say that things are any better than they were in those days. On one hand, there's a lot more freedom and convenience; on the other, however, it seems as though I traded a set of problems for another set of different ones. Still, I guess I'd prefer where I am now as opposed to where I was in Boy Blunder's world- or the old Bat's world, that is.

Some ancient legends say that before Adam met Eve, there was a Lilith- another daughter who became a creation-gone-completely-wrong and so was erased from the family tree. In a world reigned by the Dark Knight, I suppose one could say that I was this version of Lilith. Before Robin ever officially got to _know_ Batgirl, there was just me. Then, of course when the old Bat began to see me as a bad influence, he basically alienated me and started focusing more on training Babs (not that I resent her for it, especially considering I could still take on the bat-eared red head any day).

Robin understood me, though, kept in touch whenever he wasn't under his mentor's watchful eye. Our relationship had almost naturally developed with little to no effort, mostly on the terms of being two growing teenagers who each just wanted a distraction from the scars that ran deeper than any flesh wound. Both of us saw our parents die right before our eyes… at a similar age in childhood… under somewhat similar circumstances. Certain details were different, but the pain he and I carried was equally raw. It happened in our homes- his parents' circus, my parents' estate. It was when we were young and helpless- he watched in the audience, I watched behind the closet door. Gang violence was involved- his parents fell to their deaths due to tampered equipment, mine met theirs by getting massacred point blank. We know the culprits responsible, too- he's had it out for Zucco, while I still have it out for Mandragora. That's where our similarities (and ultimately our short-lived romantic relationship) had ended.

He _did_ have it out for Zucco, _wanted_ that bitter-sweet taste of revenge… But not anymore. Robin decided to play it wise like his mentor and follow the code.

In my case, I've allowed only one particular exception as to when the code becomes more of an option instead of a necessity. Mandragora is that one exception.

Once Robin's mentor realized this, my one little exception along with my harsher fighting tactics made me an outcast to the Bat family.

I don't think anyone could fathom how odd it feels for me to be working with Robin, again. He and I were fairly close, once. Now, it's as though I'm in alliance to someone from the past I hardly knew rather than an ex-boyfriend I used to read like an open book.

Conversation after this reunion of ours hasn't been much of an improvement, either:

_"Brings back memories already, doesn't it?" I say out loud, leaning against the outside wall of the warehouse as Robin approaches (having just finished sorting things with the local authorities). "Scouting and apprehending and taking names, while the old Bat's busy somewhere else… This time, though, we get to follow our own orders."_

_ Robin's scowl doesn't phase. "Don't compare us to each other like that." Despite his reply, he surprisingly leans against the wall next to me, keeping the distance between us at arm's length. "We both may have gone our separate ways, but we're not the same. And I don't want you referring to our days with __**him**__, especially around my team. Those days have been over for a while now."_

_ "Still going by the same protocol, I see." My eyes flutter closed, resting for a minute. "You may have left, but you haven't completely chucked his rule book out the window just yet." I tilt my head ever-so-slightly and peek one eye at the spikey haired know-it-all beside me. "No time to linger in the past, right Robin? He did say it was a sign of weakness- just like relationships, emotions… I'm sure breathing too loudly was somewhere on that list, too."_

_ Before my eye closes again, I notice how Robin has now grown stiff in my periph. "That right there is one of the main reasons why we're not at all the same." He says after a beat of silence. "I respected the rules back then, unlike a certain someone."_

_ Eyes still closed, I merely smile to myself and crack my knuckles._

_ "And yes," he continues. "There are several rules I haven't let go of, but some of them are what I now look to as guidelines rather than actual rules. You never had any regard for them even when you worked alongside us. You tolerated but hardly respected any of his standards, save for one you actually agreed to- at least that's what I had thought."_

_ The smile has left my face and I sigh, exasperated. "Are we really going back to __**that**__ subject again?"_

_ "You started it," he answers bluntly._

_ I take a deep breath, and then open my eyes; not looking at Robin, I keep my gaze upward towards the night sky. "Look, if it's any consolation, I haven't found him yet—" I pause for a second, feeling hesitant over my next choice of words, "—but it's given me time to think about the decision I'd made the day I left."_

_ "No, you didn't just leave." Robin quickly adds. "You completely turned your back on us. You took the ultimate code that makes a hero a hero and threatened to toss it aside. Then, you just walked away without any real explanation."_

_ Too quick even for me to realize what I'm doing, I face him almost nose to nose, glaring. "And what made __**you**__ leave, Boy Wonder? More disagreements with the old man…?" I lean in closer still, my breath on his face as I narrow my glare. "What makes you think that those disagreements were any more justified than the ones that made me leave?"_

_ "At least my intentions weren't as dark." He counters, glaring right back at me, unphased by our close proximity. "I left to prove to myself that I could stand on my own- you left to find revenge."_

_ My glare wavers a little, and then I quickly remind myself to keep a poker face as I lean away from him and stand up straight- still facing him, just not nearly as close. "You should know better than to think that was the __**only**__ reason I left, Robin." Even I recognize the heaviness in the low steady tone I've just spoken. I clear my throat and do my best to summon back my normal voice. "And like I said before, I've had time to think about it."_

_ "So… what?" He watches me as I return to leaning my back against the warehouse wall beside him. "You're telling me you've changed your mind?"_

_ Instead of looking at the night sky like before, I redirect my gaze to the ground. "Not exactly," I pause a moment, trying to choose my next words carefully. "Having a team to set an example for has given me second thoughts. I may be busying myself with these missions, but I'm still looking, Robin." I turn my head to look him directly in the eye, this time. "I won't stop until I find the man who annihilated my family." With that being said, I go back to staring at the ground. "What happens when I do is still a decision I haven't made yet. I'm hoping it'll come to me when that time approaches."_

_ There's another long pause after that and I'm thinking we've officially reached the end of this conversation. Though, as I start moving away from the wall and take the first couple of steps heading towards my teammates, I can hear his last reply- so low, I'm not quite sure if he meant for me to hear it:_

_ "I hope you make the right decision."_

**I know I keep apologizing for the late entries, but it still feels like I can't say sorry enough; especially since I finished most of this chapter in a single day, but took FOREVER to fill in the rest for various ridiculous reasons…**

**Again, click favorite and/or follow if you enjoyed! Leave reviews and suggestions to feed and quicken the creative mojo!**

**School has started for a lot of us (as for me, I'm an English majoring SENIOR IN COLLEGE, BABY! WHUH-WHAAAT!), but I hope that when y'all start getting bored typing up assignments on your computers and need a little entertainment to perk ya up, you'll tune into any upcoming entries from your humble fan-fic servant, Elien for some kick-ass Titan drama. As you can probably guess from this chapter, the juiciness is just around the corner and even **_**I **_**can hardly wait to see what happens! ;-))**

**Best wishes to all of y'all who are still with me on this ride! Stay in school, don't do drugs and all that shiz… And keep your ears to the ground for me while I work on the next few chapters, which I guarantee will be an absolute doozy topped with a delicious icing of more fluffy Rob/Star moments… (Wink-wink)**


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